Methods and systems for providing an interactive discussion platform for scientific research

ABSTRACT

Provided are computer implemented methods and systems for providing an interactive discussion platform for a scientific research article. According to an example method for providing an interactive discussion platform for a scientific research article, the scientific research article can be received and presented. At least one public medium associated with the scientific research article can be created. An entry related to the scientific research article can be received via the public medium. The entry can include an audio, a video, and a text. Data from the scientific research article and at least one entry can be extracted and analyzed.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application claims the benefit of U.S. provisionalapplication No. 61/811,634, titled “Methods and Systems for Providing anInteractive Discussion Platform for Scientific Research,” filed on Apr.12, 2013. The subject matter of the aforementioned application isincorporated herein by reference for all purposes.

FIELD

This application relates generally to data processing and, morespecifically, to providing an interactive discussion platform forscientific research and analysis as such.

BACKGROUND

Researchers and scientific and health professionals (including, but notlimited to, clinical medical doctors, academics at researchuniversities, medical students, and professionals in the pharmaceuticaland medical device industries) have been facing a crisis ofexponentially increasing information combined with little time toprocess this information. Trainees are limited in access to specialistsoutside their institution and patients are having difficulty identifyingexperts in their specific fields. Conventional approaches of reviewingnew research and publications include conducting meetings and directcommunications with representatives of pharmaceutical and medical devicecompanies. However, availability and participation of researchers andscientific and health professionals in local and national meetings,which used to fill the role of guiding the physician through newinnovations in the field, are dwindling. Additionally, pharmaceuticaland medical device companies have experienced decreased access tophysicians, decreased ability to gather real-time market data and lackof access to trainees. New regulations and practice patterns have nearlyeliminated direct access to physicians and have completely prohibiteddiscussions of off-label use of medications. Thus, health professionalshave to review large volumes of publications to find the informationthey need.

SUMMARY

Provided are computer-implemented methods and systems for providing aninteractive discussion platform for scientific research articles(including medical articles, academic papers, patents and patentpublications and the like). This interactive discussion platform servesas a collaborative mechanism for finding scientific knowledge andinformation from peers using scientific research articles as afoundation for conversations between the peers, as well as for patientsand researchers to find specialists. The interactive discussion platformalso provides the ability to mine data from these conversations, as wellas the ability to analyze the data that is mined. Furthermore, theinteractive discussion platform may provide a link to a particularscientific research article and/or reference the article's content, anonline discussion forum (audio and/or video) associated with thatarticle, as well as access to the raw data of the conversations that aretaking place in connection with the linked article.

Also provided are methods and systems for providing an interactivediscussion platform for a scientific research article. The system forproviding an interactive discussion platform for a scientific researcharticle can include a processor and a database in communication with theprocessor. The processor can be configured to receive a scientificresearch article and present the scientific research article online. Theprocessor can further be configured to create a public medium fordiscussion associated with the scientific research article. One or moreentries (e.g., an audio, a video, and a text) related to the scientificresearch article can be received from one or more users via the publicmedium. The entries can be accessed once or multiple times. The entriescan also be accessed at the user's chosen pace. By providing theentries, users can take part in discussion of the scientific researcharticle, express their opinion about the scientific research article,and provide additional information related to the scientific researcharticle. A processor can extract data from the scientific researcharticle and the entries associated with the scientific research articleand analyze the data using natural language processing, manual analysis,big data analytics, and keyword analysis. The analysis can provideinformation to practitioners to solve clinical problems, createcollaborations between health and scientific professionals andresearchers, provide patients with access to specialists, providetrainees a connection with specialists and mentors, reveal variousconcerns, sentinel events, market trends, reactions to marketingmessages and product launches, and other feedback associated with thescientific research article.

Provided also is a computer-implemented method for providing aninteractive discussion platform for a scientific research article.According to the method, the scientific research article can be receivedand presented. A public medium for discussion associated with thescientific research article can be created. An entry (e.g., an audio, avideo, and a text) related to the scientific research article can bereceived via the public medium as well as other entries from furtherusers, thereby enabling interactive discussion of the scientificresearch article. A processor can extract data from the scientificresearch article and the entries associated with the scientific researcharticle and analyze the data using natural language processing, manualanalysis, and keyword analysis. The analysis can reveal concerns,sentinel events, market trends, reactions to marketing messages andproduct launches, and other feedback associated with the scientificresearch article.

Provided also is a machine-readable medium involving instructions, whichwhen implemented by one or more processors, perform various operationsincluding receiving a scientific research article and presenting thescientific research article. A public medium for discussion associatedwith the scientific research article can be created. An entry (e.g., anaudio, a video, and a text) related to the scientific research articlecan be received via the public medium as along with other entries fromfurther users, thereby enabling interactive discussion of the scientificresearch article. In addition, public information about a presentedresearch article can be accessed, topics (as well as authors, journals,fields, subject matter, etc.) of the article can be identified, theidentified information can be aggregated by author, journal, or topic, asummary of the aggregated information can be presented, and interactivediscussion and/or analysis can be provided regarding the aggregatedinformation. Trends in research (including user trends with regard tothe interactive discussion) in the aggregated content can also beanalyzed. A processor can extract data from the scientific researcharticle and the entries associated with the scientific research articleand analyze the data using natural language processing, manual analysis,and keyword analysis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

Exemplary embodiments are illustrated by way of example and notlimitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings, in which likereferences indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 illustrates an example environment within which the systems andmethods for providing an interactive discussion platform for ascientific research article may be implemented.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing modules of a system for providing aninteractive discussion platform for a scientific research article, inaccordance with certain embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method for providing aninteractive discussion platform for a scientific research article, inaccordance with some example embodiments.

FIG. 4 represents accessing a scientific research article by scanning aQuick Response (QR) code, in accordance with some example embodiment.

FIG. 5 represents a journal club meeting page, in accordance with someexample embodiments.

FIG. 6 shows an example journal club page, in accordance with someexample embodiments.

FIG. 7 shows a diagrammatic representation of a computer system or amachine, within which a set of instructions for causing the machine toperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, can beexecuted.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the presented concepts. Thepresented concepts may be practiced without some or all of thesespecific details. In other instances, well known process operations havenot been described in detail so as to not unnecessarily obscure thedescribed concepts. While some concepts will be described in conjunctionwith the specific embodiments, it will be understood that theseembodiments are not intended to be limiting.

Various computer implemented systems and methods for providing aninteractive discussion platform for a scientific research article aredescribed herein. Large volumes of information related to research andvarious technologies in a medical area pose a problem of timelyprocessing and implementing for medical staff, trainees, researchers,and patients. The described systems and methods provide a solution tothe problem affecting the world of medical and scientific research,practice, marketing, providing information to regulatory bodies,providing information to organization for needs-assessment of members,continuing medical education, examination, and credentialing, and thelike. Using the systems and methods for providing an interactivediscussion platform for a scientific research article disclosed herein,scientific journals and societies can transform their static literatureinto dynamic forums that connect physicians with each other.Pharmaceutical and medical device companies can access real-time andreal-world marketing data unavailable elsewhere.

Scientific research articles published in scientific journals and otherresources can be provided online, in whole or in part, via publicresources. Readers of the scientific research articles can be providedwith a public medium to leave feedback concerning the scientificresearch article and receive scientific knowledge and information fromtheir peers using the research articles as a foundation for theconversations. The public medium can include a discussion forum, onlinevideo journal club (an online meeting between at least two communitiesof individuals or within one community of individuals in which at leastone scientific research paper is discussed to determine implementationsof the research, shortcomings and value of the research, etc.), videoarticle, online poll, and interactive online portal. The public mediumcan facilitate an efficient discussion of the scientific researcharticle. Moreover, the presenter and/or the author can also participatein the discussion to clarify contents of the scientific research articleand provide additional data. The public nature of the media provides forinteractive conversations related to the scientific research article andinvolving a wide audience. Researchers and practitioners can join as asingle scientific community.

Data from the entries associated with the public medium as well as thescientific research article can be extracted, culled, and analyzed usingnatural language processing, manual analysis, or keyword analysis. Theseanalytic techniques can be directed to key words or phrases in order toidentify trends, competitive products, positive and negative events,phrases, and messages. The analysis can simplify data mining (and/orprovide trend information) for the readers and provide feedback to theinterested parties. Based on the analysis of the interactive discussion,feedback received from researchers and practitioners can be evaluated,market trends and reactions can be determined, and product useinformation can be ascertained.

Additionally, based on the analysis of the interactive discussion, avalue of the scientific research article can be determined. In variousembodiments, the value is associated with the popularity of thescientific research article, evaluation of the scientific researcharticle, marketing opportunities related to the scientific researcharticle, and so forth. Additionally, the presenter or a user can receiveimmediate response to his scientific research article and generaldevelopment points associated with the scientific research article.

Using the system for providing an interactive discussion platform for ascientific research article, a printed publication can transform itsstatic database of journal articles into a live, interactive socialnetwork, and can change how scientific research is presented. Theresearchers and practitioners who participate in individual journalclubs can develop new connections and learn about innovations in realtime. Patients can find specialists related to a medical problem,researchers can find collaborators, and trainees can find mentors andspecialists. Students can find mentors through an online network. Themedical industry can obtain a new window into the best industrypractices facilitated by the discussion of healthcare innovations byresearchers and healthcare professionals.

Referring now to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates an environment 100within which the systems and methods for providing an interactivediscussion platform for a scientific research article may beimplemented. The environment 100 shows a system 200 for providing aninteractive discussion platform for a scientific research article, anetwork 110, an author 120, a user 130, client devices 140, and apresenter 180.

The network 110 may include the Internet or any other network capable ofcommunicating data between devices. Suitable networks may include orinterface with any one or more of, for instance, a local intranet, a PAN(Personal Area Network), a LAN (Local Area Network), a WAN (Wide AreaNetwork), a MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), a virtual private network(VPN), a storage area network (SAN), a frame relay connection, anAdvanced Intelligent Network (AIN) connection, a synchronous opticalnetwork (SONET) connection, a digital T1, T3, E1 or E3 line, DigitalData Service (DDS) connection, DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) connection,an Ethernet connection, an ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)line, a dial-up port such as a V.90, V.34 or V.34bis analog modemconnection, a cable modem, an ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)connection, or an FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface) or CDDI(Copper Distributed Data Interface) connection. Furthermore,communications may also include links to any of a variety of wirelessnetworks, including WAP (Wireless Application Protocol), GPRS (GeneralPacket Radio Service), GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication),CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) or TDMA (Time Division MultipleAccess), cellular phone networks, GPS (Global Positioning System), CDPD(cellular digital packet data), RIM (Research in Motion, Limited) duplexpaging network, Bluetooth radio, or an IEEE 802.11-based radio frequencynetwork. The network 110 can further include or interface with any oneor more of an RS-232 serial connection, an IEEE-1394 (Firewire)connection, a Fiber Channel connection, an IrDA (infrared) port, a SCSI(Small Computer Systems Interface) connection, a USB (Universal SerialBus) connection or other wired or wireless, digital or analog interfaceor connection, mesh or Digi® networking. The network 110 can be anetwork of data processing nodes that are interconnected for the purposeof data communication.

The system 200 for providing an interactive discussion platform for ascientific research article can include a user interface 150 that can bedisplayed by any of the client devices 140. The system 200 for providingan interactive discussion platform for a scientific research article canbe cloud-based and reside on a cloud-based server, reside on a server ofthe presenter 180, or on dedicated servers of the system 200. Thepresenter 180 can include a journal, a premier research university, apractitioner, and so forth. The client device 140 can include anycomputing device, such as a mobile device, a tablet personal computer(PC), a laptop, a desktop computer, and so forth. The client device 140,in some exemplary embodiments, includes a Graphical User Interface (GUI)for displaying the user interface 150. In a typical GUI, instead ofoffering only text menus or requiring typed commands, the systempresents graphical icons, visual indicators, or special graphicalelements called widgets that can be utilized to allow the author 120 orthe user 130 to interact with the user interface 150. The client device140 can be configured to utilize icons used in conjunction with text,labels, or text navigation to fully represent the information andactions available to users.

The author 120 can provide the scientific research article 160 to thesystem 200 for providing an interactive discussion platform for ascientific research article or to the presenter 180 associated with thesystem 200. The presenter can provide, to the system 200, the scientificresearch article 160 for presenting on an online resource, such as adiscussion forum or a journal club. The scientific research article 160can be received as part of a publication process, or it can be retrievedby crawling a database. The scientific research article 160 can includea medical article. The presenter can provide for online presentation thescientific research article 160 published in the printed publication orarticles rejected from the main journal. In the latter case, the authormay agree to alternative publication options. In the online resource,the scientific research article 160 can be presented in whole or inpart. For example, the online-presented part of the scientific researcharticle can include an author list, affiliations, keywords, title,abstract, capsule or a subset of content, and so forth.

For the presented article, the system 200 can create a public medium 162for discussion of the scientific research article 160. In variousembodiments, the public medium 162 includes a discussion forum, ajournal club, a poll, a chat, and so forth. The user 130 can access thescientific research article 160 presented by the system 200 and providean entry 164 with his feedback to the scientific research article usingthe public medium 162. The entry nature may depend on the public medium162; thus, for the discussion forum, it can be a text comment, while fora journal club it can be a video record or an online video or audioconference, and so forth. The entry 164 can reflect a point of view ofthe user 130 concerning the scientific research article 160, raiseaccompanying problems, provide assessment of the scientific researcharticle 160 by the user 130, and the like. The entry 164 can beavailable to users who can provide entries associated with thescientific research article 160. Therefore, the system 200 canfacilitate interactive discussion using the public medium 162 as acollaborative mechanism for finding scientific knowledge and informationfrom peers using the scientific research article 160 as a foundation.

At one or more times in the publication process, the author 120 can besolicited to participate in the online discussion of the scientificresearch article 160. This can include opting in to email notificationsor formal agreements to participate in discussion. This can occur uponsubmission or upon acceptance or other time points.

Content of the scientific research article 160 and one or more entries164 can be analyzed via keyword analysis and natural language processingof the content. Additionally, the content of the scientific researcharticle 160 can be identified by manual reading and categorization.Thus, readers can easily retrieve information and navigate the system200.

Moreover, based on the analysis of the interactive discussion, as wellas the access (e.g. number of users reading and/or discussing thearticle), popularity (e.g., number of users commenting on the article),and ranking of the article, the system 200 can determine a value of thescientific research article 160. The value can be associated with theinterest of the audience to the scientific research article 160, theirevaluation, and so forth.

Online discussion and conferencing opportunities create an interactivesocial network devoted to inventions and development in the scientificand medical area. The system 200 connects practitioners, researchers,and students in a virtual community that facilitates collaborations andnetworking for employment and research opportunities and also providestopic-based access to specialists. Practitioners using the system 200get the latest innovations in their field in a fraction of the time itwould take to travel to a conference. They have direct access to thoughtleaders in their field sharing the information they need. Researchersand their universities connect with other innovators, and also connectin real time to practitioners who will make use of their discoveries.

The system 200 for providing an interactive discussion platform for ascientific research article can be an open source, with open access, andfree and available to clinical practitioners, researchers, and students.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing modules of a system 200 for providingan interactive discussion platform for a scientific research article, inaccordance with certain embodiments. Specifically, the system 200 forproviding an interactive discussion platform for a scientific researcharticle can include a processor 205, a database 210, and user interface150. The processor 205 can include a programmable processor, such as amicrocontroller, central processing unit (CPU), and so forth. In otherembodiments, the processor 205 may include an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC) or programmable logic array (PLA), such as afield programmable gate array (FPGA), designed to implement thefunctions performed by the system 200. The processor 205 may beconfigured to receive a scientific research article from a presenter orfrom an author. Alternatively, information from the printed journalarticle to be presented using the system 200 can be identified viapublicly accessible links to that content. This can be search engines,online citations, or the journal online listings either of itself or aclearinghouse aggregator from the presenter or society. This content canbe manually copied or the sites can be crawled using a web crawler or ascraper to retrieve desired content. Using this approach, authors can becontacted for participation after the scientific research article ispresented. The authors can be identified using, for example, contactinformation associated with the article.

In some embodiments, a username and password can be automatically ormanually generated for the author who submits papers, whose article isaccepted for publication, or who opts in. Agreement to participate inonline discussion can be made a requirement for publication. Thegeneration of user name and password can be automatic or manual. Thisstep integrates participation in discussion with submission of themanuscript for traditional publication. The processor 205 can further beconfigured to present the scientific research article and create one ormore public mediums for the scientific research article. When thescientific research article is accepted for presenting or forpublication, a unique page or post for it can be created. This can bedone manually or automatically. A link to the presented scientificresearch article can be sent to the author.

In some embodiments, a link for discussion of the scientific researcharticle is embedded into either the abstract of the article, the titlepage of the printed article, or a QR or other similar graphical link onthe printed article and/or table of contents of the journal next to thearticle listing. Thus, audience of the printed publication can easilyaccess online resources and take part in the discussion of the article.

The processor 205 can receive at least one entry related to thescientific research article via the public medium. Notification aboutthe feedback received in relation to the scientific research article canbe sent to the author. Other users and the author can access the entryand provide additional entries related to the scientific researcharticle in real time. The entries can provide valuable information frompeer researchers, practitioners, and patients. The processor 205 canextract data from the entries and the scientific research article toanalyze and determine user preferences, actual use of drugs and devices,market trends, and so forth. Geographic targeting can allow companies toadjust direct sales actions. Impact and design of tertiary use can betransformed while rapid reactions from the marketplace are monitored.Furthermore, off-label use can be freely discussed by end userphysicians and the discussion can be analyzed.

Additionally, the entry can be indicative of the value of the presentedarticle, so the processor can process the entry to determine the valueof the scientific research article. Furthermore, users can be allowed tovote on the value of the entry. User feedback concerning the value canbe provided to users of the system 200. In some embodiments, entries canbe sorted according to their value.

The database 210 can be configured to store at least the scientificresearch article and one or more entries. Additionally, the author canbe invited or required to submit raw data associated with the scientificresearch article. The raw data received from the author can also bestored in the database 210 and a mechanism for access by other users canbe established. Collaborative research can be conducted with thisdataset and authorship can be shared between those providing originaldata and the final users.

In some embodiments, the system 200 can also include the user interface150 configured to enable interaction between the system 200 and users.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart illustrating a method 300 for providing aninteractive discussion platform for a scientific research article, inaccordance with certain embodiments. The method 300 can be performed bylogic that may comprise hardware (e.g., dedicated logic, programmablelogic, and microcode), software (such as software run on ageneral-purpose computer system or a dedicated machine), or acombination of both. In one example embodiment, the processing logicresides at the system 200 for providing an interactive discussionplatform for a scientific research article, and the various elements ofthe system 200 can perform the method 300. It will be appreciated by oneof ordinary skill that examples of the foregoing modules may be virtual,and instructions said to be executed by a module may, in fact, beretrieved and executed by software. Although various elements may beconfigured to perform some or all of the various operations describedherein, fewer or more elements may be provided and still fall within thescope of various embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 3, the method 300 may commence at operation 305 withreceiving a scientific research article by the system 200. Thescientific research article can be provided by a presenter, an author ofthe scientific research article, or retrieved by the system 200 frompublicly accessible information.

At operation 310, the scientific research article is presented on anonline resource, such as a web site or portal. Additionally, content ofthe scientific research article can be identified via keyword analysis,natural language processing of the content, or manual reading andcategorization. According to the identification, a taxonomy of articlecontent genres can be created. Readers of the journal, authors, or userscan be identified and traced based upon the taxonomy system. Each ofthem can be associated with one or more specific areas and, optionally,assigned a level of expertise in that area. Additionally, the readers,authors, and users can be identified based upon surveys sent or votingarticles associated with the articles.

At operation 315, at least one public medium associated with thescientific research article can be created. The public medium for themedical article includes a discussion page on a discussion forum, ajournal club discussion, a poll, a chat, and so forth.

Since multiple public media can be created for the same medical article,the public media can cross-reference each other. Additionally, publicmedia of the scientific research articles related to similar topics canreference each other. Moreover, when the system 200 is associated withmultiple presenters, scientific research articles associated withdifferent presenters can reference each other. The content can beaggregated and can be provided for discussion based on topic acrossjournals and/or within journals, and trends in the topics can beanalyzed.

At operation 320, at least one entry related to the scientific researcharticle can be received from the user. The user includes a reviewer, anauthor, an editor, a peer of the author, a researcher, a patient, and soforth. The entry can be in a text, an audio, a video, a picture, ananswer to the poll, and so forth. In some embodiments, the entry isrelated to a conference or a meeting associated with the scientificresearch article. A discussant or a group of discussants can be at alive event and can present the discussion at the event or stream it forviewing or participation by those at the live event. Users can discussscientific research, receive further scientific knowledge, andinformation from peers using various public media. Thus, readers canbecome part of ongoing, dynamic, live discussion that enhances the valueof the original research. The readers can obtain a direct access toleading experts in the field and the ability to be mentored by expertsfrom around the world and develop collaborations for new projects.

At operation 325, data from the scientific research article can beextracted. Text associated with comments, discussions from videoconferences, posts on social networks related to the scientific researcharticle can be collected and analyzed at operation 330. The analysis cancull reactions and market information from users and determine markettrends. In addition, the analysis can further be made to determinetrends from what is being discussed and accessed on the platform. Theanalysis can be performed using various approaches such as, for example,natural language processing, manual analysis, keyword analysis, and soforth. The analysis can target key words or phrases to identify trends,competitive products, or sentinel positive and negative events orphrases and messages from marketing. Analytic reports of products,devices, procedures, or competitive products and devices or hot topicscan be provided to industry regulators, educational groups, and thelike.

The system 200 can actively learn topics of interest based on what theusers read or present and determine topics popular with all users, inspecific user groups, or for a particular user. Accordingly, the system200 can send periodic updates of top discussions or new discussions inareas of particular interest of the user or unrelated areas the usermight like based on algorithms.

In some example embodiments, value of the scientific research articlecan be determined. The determined value can be provided to the usersand/or the author, and optionally, to a third party, such as a medicalcompany. Based on the value, popularity of the scientific researcharticle can be ascertained, and the scientific research article can beassigned a rating in relation to other scientific research articles. Therating enables detecting of top scientific research articles, top areas,and so forth.

In some embodiments, the method 300 includes creating a social networkwhere the users of the system 200 are social network members. To providethe entry associated with the scientific research article, the user mayneed to be a social network member. Membership can be both open orrequire an invitation from the social network member.

FIG. 4 represents accessing 400 a scientific research article byscanning a QR code, in accordance with an example embodiment. A printedarticle 410 in the printed publication 420 of the presenter can includea link to a scientific research article 450 (e.g., a medical article)associated with the printed article 410. In some embodiments, the linkincludes a QR code 430 to easily access the scientific research article.The user can scan the QR code 430 using, for example, a smartphone. Uponscanning, a public media 440 providing the scientific research article450 can be displayed on a screen of the smartphone. The user can readone or more comments 460 related to the scientific research article 450,provide his or her comment, and see related scientific research articlesand/or public media.

FIG. 5 represents a journal club meeting 500, in accordance with anexample embodiment. A journal club 510 can provide and organize anevent, such as demonstrating a video recording, a virtual conference,and other multimedia materials related to a scientific research article.The journal club 510 can announce an upcoming event to the audience (forexample, to the users of the system 200 or to a wider audience). Apublic interface helps participants and audience alike find out all thedetails about the upcoming event, make connections before the event, andget publicity out about the event.

A scientific research article, for example, the scientific researcharticle 450, can be chosen for discussion by an editor or an editorialboard or via social voting (e.g. in the social network associated withthe system 200). The scientific research article 450 to be discussed atthe event can be one or more than one article related by a topic andcould include original new publications and/or classical referencesrelated to that topic. The author of the scientific research article 450and/or a group of discussants can be solicited to participate in theevent via online advertising, email, or printed invitations. In someembodiments, the event is led by a moderator 530.

In an example embodiment, a concierge helps all panel members set up forthe video event, integrate with the technological platform, and helpswith all practical needs. The concierge gives the panelists all of thedata and articles in advance so that they are fully prepared for thelive event. They also give training to student presenters on how tomaximize their participation and educate them about a medical conferenceexperience. In some situations, cameras and microphones are sent aheadof time and participants are assisted with set-up.

Registration to the event can be open or require login in registrationand can be free or paid. The users who register in advance or on mailinglists can be sent invitations or reminders via email or text message.Post event messages including replay links can be sent to the samegroups.

When the event is live, a video stream 520 of the event can be providedto the users, and the video steam can be controlled by the moderator (orproducer) 530 who switches camera focus on each speaker or it can beautomatic based on who is speaking.

Polls 550, chats (not shown), and comments 540 can occur in real timewith the live event (via online web interface, or text message based orsmart phone based). In some embodiments, the polls 550, chats, andcomments 540 are coordinated by the backstage team. Access to thecomments 540, polls 550, and so forth can be public or private and couldbe shared with participants.

The entire event can be replayed or submitted for publication as a videoarticle. Content of the event, as well as discussions and the likeassociated with the event, can be analyzed.

An individual user associated with the group video chat can be replacedby a group of users which can be at live event. The camera for a groupvideo chat can be either a wide angle camera, a mobile camera controlledby a cameraman, or a remote controlled camera with pan tilt zoomcapability (PTZ). In case of PTZ, it can be controlled by a participantin the room with a remote control, a device passed from speaker tospeaker which the camera follows, or remotely controlled over InternetProtocol (IP) by a controller operator in another location.

FIG. 6 shows an example journal club page 600. The journal club page 600can include a video stream 610 associated with a video conference forthe scientific research article. The video stream 610 can include videofeeds from a plurality of participants. The video stream 610 can bedemonstrated live or as a recording.

Participants of the video conference can critique and analyze thescientific research article. The journal club page 600 can bring thediscussion of the participants to a wide audience by leveraging videoconference and chat technologies. The author of the scientific researcharticle can be a participant of the video conference to answer questionsand lend additional insight. Additionally, participants and/or otherusers can post comments 620 related to the scientific research article,video discussions of the scientific research article, and so forth.Discussions during the video conference, comments 620, votes, and otherinformation related to the scientific research article can be retrievedand analyzed to determine audience feedback to the scientific researcharticle and to reveal additional information provided by theparticipants and/or other users.

FIG. 7 shows a diagrammatic representation of a computer system or amachine, within which a set of instructions for causing the machine toperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, can beexecuted. The system 700 of FIG. 7 can be implemented in the contexts ofthe likes of computing systems, networks, servers, or combinationsthereof. The computing system 700 of FIG. 7 includes one or moreprocessor units 710 and main memory 720. Main memory 720 stores, inpart, instructions and data for execution by processor 710. Main memory720 stores the executable code when in operation. The computer system700 of FIG. 7 further includes a mass data storage 730, portable storagedevice 740, output devices 750, user input devices 760, a graphicsdisplay system 770, and peripheral devices 780. The methods may beimplemented in software that is cloud-based.

The components shown in FIG. 7 are depicted as being connected via asingle bus 790. The components may be connected through one or more datatransport means. Processor unit 710 and main memory 720 are connectedvia a local microprocessor bus, and the mass data storage 730,peripheral device(s) 780, portable storage device 740, and graphicsdisplay system 770 are connected via one or more input/output (I/O)buses.

Mass data storage 730, which can be implemented with a magnetic diskdrive, solid state drive, or an optical disk drive, is a non-volatilestorage device for storing data and instructions for use by processorunit 710. Mass data storage 730 stores the system software forimplementing embodiments of the present disclosure for purposes ofloading that software into main memory 720.

Portable storage device 740 operates in conjunction with a portablenon-volatile storage medium, such as a floppy disk, compact disk (CD),digital video disc (DVD), or USB storage device, to input and outputdata and code to and from the computer system 700 of FIG. 7. The systemsoftware for implementing embodiments of the present disclosure isstored on such a portable medium and input to the computer system 700via the portable storage device 740.

User input devices 760 provide a portion of a user interface. User inputdevices 760 include one or more microphones, an alphanumeric keypad,such as a keyboard, for inputting alphanumeric and other information, ora pointing device, such as a mouse, a trackball, stylus, or cursordirection keys. User input devices 760 can also include a touchscreen.Additionally, the computer system 700 as shown in FIG. 7 includes outputdevices 750. Suitable output devices include speakers, printers, networkinterfaces, and monitors.

Graphics display system 770 include a liquid crystal display (LCD) orother suitable display device. Graphics display system 770 receivestextual and graphical information and processes the information foroutput to the display device.

Peripheral devices 780 may include any type of computer support deviceto add additional functionality to the computer system.

The components provided in the computer system 700 of FIG. 7 are thosetypically found in computer systems that may be suitable for use withembodiments of the present disclosure and are intended to represent abroad category of such computer components that are well known in theart. Thus, the computer system 700 of FIG. 7 can be a PC, hand heldcomputing system, telephone, mobile computing system, workstation,tablet, phablet, mobile phone, server, minicomputer, mainframe computer,or any other computing system. The computer may also include differentbus configurations, networked platforms, multi-processor platforms, andthe like. Various operating systems may be used including UNIX, LINUX,WINDOWS, MAC OS, PALM OS, ANDROID, IOS, QNX, and other suitableoperating systems.

It is noteworthy that any hardware platform suitable for performing theprocessing described herein is suitable for use with the embodimentsprovided herein. Computer-readable storage media refer to any medium ormedia that participate in providing instructions to a CPU, a processor,a microcontroller, or the like. Such media may take forms including, butnot limited to, non-volatile and volatile media such as optical ormagnetic disks and dynamic memory, respectively. Common forms ofcomputer-readable storage media include a floppy disk, a flexible disk,a hard disk, magnetic tape, any other magnetic storage medium, a CompactDisk Read Only Memory (CD-ROM) disk, DVD, BLU-RAY DISC (BD), any otheroptical storage medium, Random-Access Memory (RAM), ProgrammableRead-Only Memory (PROM), Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM),Electronically Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory (EEPROM), flashmemory, and/or any other memory chip, module, or cartridge.

In some embodiments, the computer system 700 may be implemented as acloud-based computing environment, such as a virtual machine operatingwithin a computing cloud. In other embodiments, the computer system 700may itself include a cloud-based computing environment, where thefunctionalities of the computer system 700 are executed in a distributedfashion. Thus, the computer system 700, when configured as a computingcloud, may include pluralities of computing devices in various forms, aswill be described in greater detail below.

In general, a cloud-based computing environment is a resource thattypically combines the computational power of a large grouping ofprocessors (such as within web servers) and/or that combines the storagecapacity of a large grouping of computer memories or storage devices.Systems that provide cloud-based resources may be utilized exclusivelyby their owners, or such systems may be accessible to outside users whodeploy applications within the computing infrastructure to obtain thebenefit of large computational or storage resources.

The cloud may be formed, for example, by a network of web servers thatcomprise a plurality of computing devices, such as the computer system700, with each server (or at least a plurality thereof) providingprocessor and/or storage resources. These servers may manage workloadsprovided by multiple users (e.g., cloud resource customers or otherusers). Typically, each user places workload demands upon the cloud thatvary in real-time, sometimes dramatically. The nature and extent ofthese variations typically depends on the type of business associatedwith the user.

While the present disclosure has been described in connection with aseries of embodiments, these descriptions are not intended to limit thescope of the subject matter to the particular forms set forth herein. Itwill be further understood that the methods are not necessarily limitedto the discrete components described. To the contrary, the presentdescriptions are intended to cover such alternatives, modifications, andequivalents as may be included within the spirit and scope of thesubject matter as disclosed herein and defined by the appended claimsand otherwise appreciated by one of ordinary skill in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for providing aninteractive discussion platform for a scientific research article, themethod comprising: automatically crawling a website and extracting thescientific research article; executing instructions stored in a memory,wherein execution of the instructions by a processor: un-tars a directdataset in a form of a tar file for the scientific research article andforms a tree-like structure; presents the scientific research articleand the tree-like structure to an online resource; creates at least onepublic medium associated with the scientific research article, the atleast one public medium automatically generated by a script; generatesan interactive graphical user interface on a mobile client device, theinteractive graphical user interface displaying the at least one publicmedium; receives, via the at least one public medium, at least one entryrelated to the scientific research article; displays the at least oneentry via the at least one public medium; processes the at least oneentry to determine a value of the scientific research article, the valueassociated with the scientific research article being provided to one ormore users via the interactive graphical user interface of the mobileclient device; extracts data from the scientific research article andthe at least one entry; analyzes the data and actively learns at leastone topic of interest based on the analyzed data; determines userpopularity of the at least one topic of interest; and provides periodicupdates to the one or more users via the interactive graphical userinterface of the mobile client device, the periodic updates includingone or more discussions in the at least one topic of interest; whereinthe value of the scientific research article is based on one or more ofan analysis of an interactive discussion, popularity of the scientificresearch article, evaluation of the scientific research article ormarketing opportunities of the scientific research article.
 2. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the at least one publicmedium includes a journal club and the at least one entry includes avideo associated with the journal club.
 3. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein the at least one public medium includes adiscussion forum and the at least one entry includes a commentassociated with the discussion forum.
 4. The computer-implemented methodof claim 1, wherein the execution of the instructions by the processorfurther creates a social network including at least one social networkmember, the at least one entry being received from the at least onesocial network member.
 5. The computer-implemented computer-implementedmethod of claim 4, wherein the at least one social network memberincludes one or more of a researcher, a peer of the researcher, anauthor, an editor, and a reviewer.
 6. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the execution of the instructions by the processorfurther aggregates the at least one entry with one or more furtherentries associated with one or more further presented scientificresearch articles.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein the analyzing of the data includes a determination of trends inresearch with regard to the data.
 8. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein the the analyzing of the data includes one or more ofnatural language processing, manual analysis, keyword analysis, and bigdata analytics.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinthe execution of the instructions by the processor further: based on thevalue, calculates a rating of the scientific research article inrelation to other scientific research articles; and provides one or morescientific research articles based on the rating of each article. 10.The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the execution of theinstructions by the processor further: based on the rating, generates amessage associated with the one or more scientific research articles;and sends the message to one or more client devices.
 11. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, the interactive graphical userinterface configured to dynamically display a specific, structuredinteractive graphical user interface paired with a prescribedfunctionality directly related to the interactive graphical userinterface's structure.
 12. A system for providing an interactivediscussion platform for a scientific research article, the systemcomprising: at least one processor; a memory storingprocessor-executable instructions, wherein the at least one processor isconfigured to implement the following operations upon executing theprocessor-executable instructions: receive the scientific researcharticle; present the scientific research article; create at least onepublic medium associated with the scientific research article; generatea graphical user interface via a client device, the graphical userinterface displaying the at least one public medium; receive, via the atleast one public medium, at least one entry related to the scientificresearch article; display the at least one entry via the at least onepublic medium; processes the at least one entry to determine a value ofthe scientific research article, the value associated with thescientific research article being provided to one or more users via thegraphical user interface of the client device; extract data from thescientific research article and the at least one entry; analyze the dataand actively learn at least one topic of interest based on the analyzeddata; determine user popularity of the at least one topic of interest;and provide periodic updates to the one or more users via the graphicaluser interface of the client device, the periodic updates including oneor more discussions in the at least one topic of interest; and adatabase in communication with the at least one processor and configuredto store at least the scientific research article and the at least oneentry; wherein the value of the scientific research article is based onone or more of an analysis of an interactive discussion, popularity ofthe scientific research article, evaluation of the scientific researcharticle or marketing opportunities of the scientific research article.13. The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one public mediumcomprises a journal club and the at least one entry includes a videoassociated with the journal club.
 14. The system of claim 13, whereinthe video includes a live video conference associated with thescientific research article.
 15. The system of claim 12, wherein the atleast one public medium comprises a discussion forum and the at leastone entry includes a comment associated with the discussion forum. 16.The system of claim 12, wherein the at least one public medium comprisesan online poll related to the scientific research article and the atleast one entry includes a poll answer.
 17. The system of claim 12,wherein the scientific research article is assigned a category based onnatural language processing, manual analysis, and keyword analysis ofcontent of the scientific research article.
 18. The system of claim 12,wherein the scientific research article is associated with a printedarticle, wherein the printed article comprises a link to the publicmedium, the link being one or more of the following: a web address and aquick response (QR) code.
 19. The system of claim 12, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to implement an operation of:upon receiving the at least one entry, send a notification to an authorof the scientific research article.
 20. The system of claim 12, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured to implement operationsof: based on the value, calculate a rating of the scientific researcharticle in relation to other scientific research articles; provide oneor more scientific research articles in accordance with the rating ofeach article; based on the rating, generate a message associated withthe one or more scientific research articles; and send the message toone or more users.
 21. The system of claim 12, wherein the database isfurther configured to store raw data submitted by a user of theinteractive discussion platform.
 22. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium comprising instructions, which when executed by one or moreprocessors, perform the following operations: receive, by an interactivediscussion platform, a scientific research article, the interactivediscussion platform coupled to a server and executable by the one ormore processors; present the scientific research article; create atleast one public medium associated with the scientific research article;generate a graphical user interface via a client device; receive atleast one entry related to the scientific research article; display theat least one entry via the at least one public medium; process the atleast one entry to determine a value of the scientific research article,the value associated with the scientific research article being providedto one or more users via the graphical user interface of the clientdevice; extract data from the scientific research article and the atleast one entry; analyze the data and actively learn at least one topicof interest based on the analyzed data; determine user popularity of theat least one topic of interest; and provide periodic updates to the oneor more users via the graphical user interface of the client device, theperiodic updates including one or more discussions in the at least onetopic of interest; wherein the value of the scientific research articleis based on one or more of a number of users reading or discussing thescientific research article, number of users commenting on thescientific research article, or ranking of the scientific researcharticle.